As you know Oracle has been chaned release name. In this post we talk about Oracle Realeases.
Before we start let use see current Oracle Database Realeases and Support Timelines
Let us start
Oracle has two types of Oracle Database releases: Long Term Release and Innovation Release.
Long Term Release:
Oracle Database Long Term Releases are ideal for use cases that benefit from less frequent upgrades to newer releases. Long Term Releases offer the highest level of stability and the longest length of error correction support. These releases have 5 years of Premier Support followed by 3 years of Extended Support. When combined with Extended Support, customers typically have almost 4 years to upgrade from one Long Term Release to the next Long Term Release.
Innovation Release:
In between Oracle Database Long Term Releases, Oracle delivers Oracle Database Innovation Releases that include many enhancements and new capabilities which will also be included in the next Long Term Release. Innovation Releases are designed to enable customers to continuously use leading-edge technologies to rapidly develop or deploy new applications or augment existing applications. Support for Innovation Releases includes at least 2 years of Premier Support, but there is no Extended Support. Production workloads can be deployed on Innovation Releases if upgrading to the next database release within one year after the next database release ships is factored into the deployment plan.
As you can see you need to be at 19c in that point. So What Happened to Oracle Database 20c?
Oracle 20c was a preview-only release and was never generally available.Oracle database 21c, as this was the first generally available release to contain these features.
So than next quesiton, What Happened to Oracle Database 22c?
You can then stay there
Oracle have announced there will be no 22c release, so the next release after 21c will be 23c, which will be the next long term release.
If you are on 19c than you need to wait until 23c is released
For more details please review Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1)